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Goo Goo Dolls goo goo for Canada
Posted on February 28, 2014 by Sunny South News For over 20 years the Goo Goo Dolls have released hit after hit across the globe. From “Name,” “Slide” and “Black Balloon” to “Naked,” “Better Days” and “Iris” — the band has always enjoyed the support they’ve received from Canada for over two decades and nine albums including the latest, “Magnetic.” Goo Goo Dolls make a stop in Lethbridge at Enmax Centre Monday night.“This is a tour across Canada in March and being Buffalo guys I guess they figure that March in Canada is a pretty natural place for us to be. You can’t send mere mortals through Canada in the dead of winter,” joked Goo Goo Dolls’ bassist Robby Takac, adding the band is playing over a dozen dates across Canada.
Growing up, the Buffalo native said, Toronto was the nearest city so the band used to play in the Great White North on a regular basis. “We love touring up there,” he added.
Recently, the rock trio were in the New York area and performed during one of this year’s Superbowl pre-game events — a warm-up party for Fox television and another gig leading up to the ultimate football championship for VH-1.
“Magnetic” is the latest collection of songs from Takac, guitarist and lead vocalist John Rzeznik and a brand new drummer on the Canadian leg of the tour. The Goo Goo Dolls’ original drummer left the band at the beginning of January and a replacement was found. Now, a new drummer has stepped up to the plate and the transition hasn’t been as tough as Takac thought it would be.
“I was really kind of dreading it just because it seemed like a huge body of work but these guys are great drummers and pros,” said Takac.
As for the new album, Takac said fans all over the world seem to dig it.
“We’ve played it around an awful lot of places since it came out six months ago, so it’s been a busy time for us and it’s been fun playing these songs for people,” said Takac, adding the live show features an extensive list of songs from the radio and a bunch of songs the band simply just loves to play. “It’s a big night of rock songs.”
Following the current Canadian stint on the road the Goo Goo Dolls are set to strip down for an acoustic tour this spring in the U.S. and this summer a co-headlining tour with Matchbox 20.
When not on stage Takac is a proud father of a two-year-old daughter and the bassist said being a dad makes it a little harder to leave home but fatherhood’s been a trip.
“We’ve been doing this a long time and we really don’t see an end in sight anytime soon so we’ve been kind of bringing her along and she comes out on tour with us and sleeps on the bus. It’s pretty cool, we have a good time. Everybody likes having her around and keeps the salty sea talk down a bit,” he joked, adding the new role as dad has changed not only his perspective when songwriting but fatherhood changes everything a little bit.
“Your focus gets shifted a touch but I think if you’ve got good people in your life that understand what’s going on — it’s not all that tough of a transition to make. I think it’s a really nice one,” added Takac.
The Goo Goo Dolls are pretty lucky, Takac said, since the band has a body of work fans know, as opposed to up-and-coming bands trying to make it in today’s somewhat over-saturated music scene. The band has loyal fans who have been and will always be supportive and will come out to see a live show.
“I think for new bands, it’s really tough to drag people away from their computers and come out to a show these days for a band that’s just trying to make it happen. I think it’s difficult and there’s a lot of competition out there right now vying for your attention,” said Takac, adding it’s a different scene now then it was when the band was starting out.
“There was a lot less to do 20 years ago or 15 years ago — so music was one of those things that people joined together and kind of rallied around.”
Other hits from Goo Goo Dolls include “Sympathy,” “Here Is Gone” and “Broadway.”
Goo Goo Dolls live with special guests. Tickets start at $50 plus service charges and are available online or at the Ticket Centre. Show starts at 8 p.m.
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